Lamp stand and tripod



Sept. 23, 1952 H. M. BREAKIRON 7 LAMP STAND AND TRIPOD Filed Nov. 25, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 INVENTOR BY W- 7 ATTORNEYS.

P 1952 H. M. BREAKIRON LAMP STAND AND TRIPOD 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed Nov. 23, 1948 .IZMflneaZziron INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 23, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- i a 1 2,611,571 7 v LAMP JS'IJAIND AND' TRIPOD "Harold" M. Breakiron, Application November 23, 1948, Serial No.. 61,547

3 Claims. (Cl. 248- -l57 This invention relates to a collapsible support Construction, the construction being such asto permit its being embodied in supports of various types, as forexample, a stand for supporting lighting apparatus for a photographer, or as a tripod for supporting a photographers' camera.

Byway of background, it may be noted that heretofore, supports used for purposes such as enumerated above have in general been bulky, incapable of being collapsed to an extent as will permit complete portability, or have been incapable of adjustment to as great an extent as has been found desirable.

It is accordingly an important object of the present invention to provide a device of the character described which will be capable of being fully c'ollapsed,'so that when folded it will take up a' minimum of space, thus to permit its ready portability with other apparatus of a photographer.

Another important object is to provide a device of the type stated wherein means will be embodied adapted to permit erection of the equipment with speed and facility.

Another important object is to provide a support of the character described which not only will be capable'of speedyand easy erection, but will be as speedily and easily collapsed to its full extent;

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consistsofcertain novel details of construction and combinations of parts,.hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawings. a

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a lamp stand constructed in accordance with the invention, said stand being shown fully erected and adjusted to its maximum extent.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of a hinge connection embodied in the construction, the device being shown in collapsed position, portions being broken awayj Figure 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus, as it appears when fully collapsed.

Figure 4 is a vertical section through the hinge 5 construction and parts associated therewith, with a locking means for the hinge being positioned operatively.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view, partly in side elevation and partly in vertical section, through the lower end of one of the supporting legs.

2, Figure '6 is a 'bottomplan view thereof. "Figure? is a perspective view of the hinge member; Y

Figure 8 is an exploded perspective view of a latch for said hinge member.

Figure 9 is afragmentary perspective view of the upper end of'one of the supporting legs.

Figure 10 -is a view'partlyi'n side elevation and partly in vertical section; of the standard.

Figure 11' is a fragmentary exploded perspective viewof a'locking means embodied in the standard. v

Figure 12 is a section through the uppermost telescopic connection in the standard.

Figure 13 is a section taken substantially on line I3I3 of'Fig. 12.

Referring to the drawings in detail, I have shown the invention as applied to a photographers lamp stand, this being illustrative of one ready application of the invention. I believe that many other applications of the invention are possibleas for example, to a photographers tripod or to. other types of collapsible or foldable supports.

In the illustrated example, the lamp stand is provided with a plurality of legs 5, preferably formed from tubular metal stock. In the present instance, each leg has an opening 6 at its lower end, said opening being offset from the axis of the leg, and mounted in the opening is a foot I of resilient material, said foot being formed with thecentral aperture 8 to permit it to be readily deformed for the, purpose of being mounted in the opening. A non-slip engagement with a floor or other supporting surface is thus provided, when the legs 5 are extended as illustrated, for exmp in i -.1.

At its'upper end, each, leg 5 is provided with diametrically opposed openings 8' receiving lugs 9 projected from diametrically opposed portions of a ball element l0, thus to provide a pivotal mounting for the ball element.

Each ball element It) has formed thereon the annular boss I I, and said boss or enlargement l l is received in an oblong opening l2 formed in the rounded upper'end of the leg 5. Said opening l2 intermediate its ends, is reduced to provide a medial constriction in said oblong opening. The boss I l, as readily seen from Figs. 4 and 9 respectively extends into the opening I2, the end Walls of said opening providing stops limiting movement of the leg 5 relative to the ball element in opposite directions. The ball element, or more properly the boss I l of each ball element, will be disposed in one end of its opening I 2 when the leg 5 associated therewith is in one extreme, or

collapsed, position. The boss will be in the other end of its opening when the leg 5 is in its other extreme, or extended position. The constriction i3 tends to retain the leg in either position to which moved, since it takes positive force to move the boss H past the constriction in either direction.

Rigid with each boss I i is the upstanding stud la, embedded in a bottom recess formed in a hinge block it. It will be understood that there would be three recesses i5 where, as in the pres- .ent instance, a tripod leg arrangement is being provided.

Extending part way into the hinge block it is the vertically disposed slot i7, and a pivot pin 1 8 is extended through the hinge block and disposed transversely of the slot 17,

Swinging into and out of the slot H on the pivot pin l 8 is the hinge member l9. Hinge member 19 is formed adjacent one end with an opening through which the pivot pin extends. In the opposite end, it is provided with a transverse recess 20, and adjacent t the recess the end of the hinge member is cut away to provide an inclined cam surface 2 5 Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, a lock pin 22 extends into a bore 23 formed in the hinge block. At one end the bore is closed as readily seen from Fig. 3. Intermediate its ends the bore is in oom munication with the inner end of the slot IT.

A spring 24 normally tends to urge the loci; pin 22 outwardly.

Stop means is provided that limits movement of the pin 22 in opposite directions. In thepresent instance this includes a longitudinal depression formed in the pin and designated 25, and a stop lug 26 embedded in the hinge block and so positioned relative to the recess (see Fig. 3) as to engage opposite end walls or the recess on movement of the pin in one direction or another.

Adjacent the longitudinal depression 25, but spaced therefrom by one end wall of the depression, is the locking recess 21, the inner end wall of which is formed. as an inclined cam surface 28 engageable by the cam surface 2d of the hinge member iii.

In one extreme position, the hinge member i9 is disposed as in Figs. 2 and 3 In this position, that end of the hinge member having transverse recess 29 and cam surface 2! is out of the slot.

However, by swinging the hinge member i9 clockwise in Fig. .2, cam surface 25 will be caused to come into contact with cam surface 28 of the lock pin 22. This cams loch pin 22 in one direction (downwardly in Fig. 3). this position during further clockwise travel of the hinge pin, until transverse recess 29 is in register with the lock pin. Then, under the action of the spring 2 the lock pin is moved in a return direction, and locks the hinge member in its other extreme position, as seen from Fig. 4.

Secured fixedly to the hinge member is the cap 29, mounted in one end of the standard that is carried by the hinge member. The standard includes a plurality of telescoping members, of which there can be any desired number. Four are illustrated in the present instance for the sake of example.

The lowermost telescoping member is designated 39, and at its upper end is reduced at 3! (Fig. 10). Telescoping in the member 33 is telescopic member 32, the lower end of which is belled out as at 33. At its upper end member 32 is reduced at 34, and telescoping in member 32 is the telescopic member 35, having its lower end belled It will be held in 4 out as at 36. The upper end of the member 35 is reduced as at 31, and telescoping in the mom ber 35 is the uppermost member 38.

In each of the three telescopic connections shown in the illustrated example, a releasable lock means is provided. The uppermost lock means will be first described, and in this connection, reference should be had to Fig. 12. I prefer to provide a friction lock in the uppermost telescopic connection, and to this end, the lower end of the uppermost member 38 is belled out as at 39. Embracing the flared or belled portion 39 is one or more expandable split rings 49. By reason of this construction, when the members 35 and 38 are extended, the split ring t!) will hold them in extended relation as illustrated in Figs. 10 and 12. However, the member 38 can be telescoped to any extent desired, either partially or fully within the member 35, and in any position, the split ring 40 will frictionally engage it against movement from said position.

The two lower telescopic connections are of identical construction. In this connection, it will be understood that if more than two lower connections are employed, they will all be alike.

In any event, and considering the lowermost telescopic connection, I mount fixedly in the upper portion of the lowermost telescopic members 30 the ring member il (Figs. 10 and 1 1 This is mounted, as seen from Fig. 10, subjacent the reduced upper end 3! of the member 30.

The ring member 4! engages the outer end of opposed detents 42. These project outwardly from transversely curved plates 43, to which they are fixedly connected. A spring it is interposed between the plates, and normally presses the plates and pins or detents carried thereby outwardly, so that the detents will be pressed through diametrically opposed apertures formed in the lower end of the next higher telescopic member 32, and will be engaged by the ring 4 i Ring 4! is formed with diametrically opposed pairs of notches as, 3?, and on partial rotation of one telescopic member 30 relative to the other telescopic member 32, detents 42 will engage in a selected pair. Although two pairs are illustrated in the present instance, it will be obvious that this particular number of pairs is not critical.

The upper endof the plates 43 are inclined inwardly as at 48, for a purpose to be described.

Considering now the next higher telescopic connection, this is formed identically to the lowermost connection described immediately above. In other words, a spring 49 presses outwardly the plates 50, said plates having detents pressed out- Wardly through openings in the higher telescopic member, so as to engage a ring fixedly mounted in the upper end of the lower telescopic member.

Discussing the operation, it will be assumed that the entire lamp stand is erected and extended to one extreme adjusted position, illustrated in Fig. 1. Assuming that it is desired to collapse the lamp stand completely, the uppermost telescopic member 38 is telescoped in member 35. As it reaches a full telescoped, position, the flared lower end 39 of the uppermost member will engage the inturned upper end of the plates 58. Against the action of the spring 45, plates 58 will be forced inwardly toward each other, and this will withdraw the detents associated with said plate to just such an extent as will cause the detents to disengage from the ring member of telescopic member 32. As a result,

the lock between members 32 and 35 is released, and member 35 will telescope in member 32.

As the flared or belied lower end 36 of the member 35 reaches its lowermost position, it engages the inturned upper ends 48 of the plates 43. This cams plates 43 inwardly in exactly the same manner as the plates 50 were cammed inwardly. As a result, detents 42 are withdrawn from engagement with the ring member 4|, and telescopic member 32 is thus permitted to collapse into the lowermost member 30.

As the result of this operation, all four of the illustrated telescopic members are fully collapsed, so that in the final analysis, they occupy in a space no greater than the member 30 in length and-diameter. The operation of collapsing the members is achieved simply by pressing uppermost member 38 downwardly, and this sets into motion the action of successive release of each lower lock.

When the standard provided by the telescopic members has been fully collapsed, the operator next presses the lock pin 22 inwardly, one end of the lock pin projecting outwardly from the hinge block as best seen from Fig. 3, to provide a button. By pressing the pin 22 inwardly, the user frees the hinge member 19 from engagement by said lock pin, and the whole collapsed standard is thus permitted to swing downwardly to the position illustrated in Fig. 2, in which see the member 30, representing the lower end of the collapsed standard.

Legs 5, meanwhile, are swung inwardly on the ball element, so that said legs and the collapsed standard are all parallel and in longitudinal contact from end to end.

The collapsed lamp stand, accordingly, occupies a space no greater than the length of any leg 5, and additionally, no greater transversely than the combined thicknesses of the longitudinally contacting legs 5 and collapsed standard.

In erecting the lamp stand, one need only reverse the procedure. The collapsed standard is swung clockwise in Fig. 2, so that hinge member locks in position. The standard is then withdrawn, to extended position. As each telescopic member is extended relative to each member next below, the detent plates are released for outward movement, causing pins or detents 42 to be forced outwardly to effect the telescopic lock.

What is claimed is:

1. In a collapsible support a disk shaped block having a radially extending slot opening through the side thereof, a hinge member mounted in the disk shaped block for swinging movement about an axis which intersects the slot and lies perpendicular to the axis of the block, a standard carried by the hinge member for movement in an arcuate path from a position on one side of the block in which it lies in axial alignment with the axis of the block to a position adjacent the other side of the block in which it lies parallel to the axis of the block, ball elements carried by the block for movement about axes which lie parallel with the axis of the block, and legs carried by the ball elements for movement in arcuate paths toward and away from the axis of the block.

2. In a collapsible support a disk shaped block having a radially extending slot opening through the side thereof, a hinge member mounted in the disk shaped block for swinging movement about an axis which intersects the slot and lies perpendicular to the axis of the block, a standard carried by the hinge member for movement in an arcuate path from a position on one side of the block in which it lies in axial alignment with the axis of the block to a position adjacent the other side of the block in which it lies parallel to the axis of the block, ball elements carried ard aligns with the axis of the disk shaped block.

3. The structure claimed in claim 2 in which the means for engaging the hinge member comprises a bolt mounted to slide in the block in intersecting relation to the slot, said bolt having a slot which aligns with the slot in the block for permitting the hinge member to move in the slot, and spring means engaging the bolt and the block for yieldingly holding the slot in the bolt out of alignment with the slot in the block.

HAROLD M. BREAKIRON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 984,591 Nelson Feb. 21, 1911 2,273,791 Wirgin Feb. 17, 1942 2,409,867 Jones Oct. 22, 1946 2,453,442 Lewis Nov. 9, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country 7 Date 559,892 France Sept. 22, 1923 

